How Does Laser Cutting Work?
Laser cutting embodies the remarkable capabilities of modern technologies. This process captures raw light power, forming an uncanny accuracy and versatility tool. Understanding intricate mechanisms that drive laser cutting unlocks a world of intricacy. So how does laser cutting work? Learn more about the points in this article.
1. How exactly does laser cutting work?
The following points will explain precisely how laser cutting works.
a. Creating Beams
The laser beam is a column of light with just one wavelength or color and a very high intensity. Since it falls in the infrared region of the light spectrum and occurs in a conventional CO2 laser, it is not visible to the human eye.
As it passes through the machine’s beam path from the laser resonator, which generates the shaft, the beam is only approximately 3/4 of an inch. Before it is eventually focused onto the plate, it may pass through several mirrors or “beam benders” and bounce in various directions.
The laser beam passes via a nozzle’s bore before striking the plate. A compressed gas, like oxygen or nitrogen, also flows through the nozzle hole in that device.
b. Laser Focusing
A curved mirror or a custom-made lens may focus the laser beam in the laser cutting head. The shaft must be carefully focused so the focus point can be round, constant in density, and centered inside the nozzle. Dilute it by narrowing its broad beam into a single pinpoint so intense heat density is achieved. Focus on how a fire might be started if you concentrate 6 KWatts of energy through a magnifying glass onto a leaf. You may now imagine how hot that location would become by focusing 6 KWatts of power there.
c. Heating
The high power density causes the material’s rapid heating, melting, and partial or total vaporization. The laser cutting gas will be pure oxygen, much like an oxy-fuel torch, and the heat of the laser beam is ample to initiate a conventional “oxy-fuel” burning process when cutting mild steel. A laser beam merely melts the material when cutting stainless steel or aluminum; hence, high-pressure nitrogen is utilized to blast out molten metal from the cut.
d. Beam Motion
For cutting the required portion out of the metal plate, the laser cutter requires moving the laser cutting head over the plate in the appropriate form. The end of the nozzle is kept precisely at the same distance from the vessel being cut using a capacitive height control system.
This distance is crucial because it sets the focus point location on the surface of the plate. Raising or lowering this focus point from just above the plate’s surface, at its surface, or just below its surface may affect a change in cut quality. Other factors that influence cut quality are there, but when they are all managed well, laser cutting is a steady, reliable, and exact cutting process.
2. Advantages of laser cutting
The following are the benefits of laser cutting.
a. Contactless cutting
Cutting with a laser is contactless, meaning the cutting tool never touches the substance being cut. By removing the possibility of tool wear, this feature lowers the frequency of tool maintenance and replacement. It also ensures that the cutting process doesn’t contaminate the material surface.
b. Minimal Post-Processing
Laser cutting is often accurate enough to have little post-processing needs. In contrast with conventional techniques, which may require considerable deburring, grinding, or other finishing operations, laser-cut edges are often clean and smooth–requiring little post-cutting refining.
c. Computer Numerical Control (CNC)
Laser cutting is usually combined with CNC systems to generate highly repeatable cuts from digital design files. This level of automation reduces the possibility of human error that results in consistent output.
d. Environmental friendliness
The effectiveness and accuracy of laser cutting help to make it environmentally friendly. It complies with sustainability objectives and ecologically friendly production practices since it generates less material waste and uses less energy than conventional techniques.
Conclusion:
Generally speaking, laser cutting is more advantageous than other cutting techniques. There are different laser-cutting techniques appropriate for various materials. Mobile phones, computer devices, leather, garments, apparel, and furniture all use laser-cutting technology. The invention of laser cutting, a symphony of light and material that has revolutionized how we create the world around us, brings glory to human creativity.
Laser cutting will probably keep pushing the frontiers of what is possible as technology develops and our knowledge grows, which means we will see a future where accuracy knows no bounds.
